English Grammar & Vocabulary Guides
Clear explanations of English grammar and vocabulary with rules, examples, and common mistakes. Read a guide, then practise it with free interactive exercises. Aligned to CEFR levels A1 through C1.
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A1 Grammar exercises A2 Grammar exercises B1 Grammar exercises B2 Grammar exercises C1 Grammar exercises A1 Vocabulary exercises A2 Vocabulary exercises B1 Vocabulary exercises B2 Vocabulary exercises C1 Vocabulary exercises Present simple: I, you, we, they (A1 grammar guide) like, love, want, need (A1 grammar guide) Present simple: he, she, it (A1 grammar guide) Plural Nouns (A1 grammar guide) Plurals: Special Spellings (A1 grammar guide) Possessive 's (A1 grammar guide) This, That, These, Those (A1 grammar guide) Object Pronouns (A1 grammar guide) Imperatives (A1 grammar guide) Have vs Has (A1 grammar guide) Was / Were (A1 grammar guide) Can / Can't (A1 grammar guide) Short Answers (A1 grammar guide) Simple Past (Regular) (A1 grammar guide) Possessive Adjectives (A1 grammar guide) Basic Adjectives (A1 grammar guide) There is / There are (A1 grammar guide) Would like (A1 grammar guide) Going to (A1 grammar guide) Will (I'll) (A1 grammar guide) Simple Conjunctions (A1 grammar guide) Like Doing & Want To Do (A1 grammar guide) Prepositions of Place: In, On, Under (A1 grammar guide) Prepositions of Place: Next To, Between, Behind (A1 grammar guide) Prepositions of Time: At and On (A1 grammar guide) Prepositions of Time: In a Month, On a Date (A1 grammar guide) Simple Past (Irregular) (A1 grammar guide) Could / Couldn't (A1 grammar guide) Now or every day? (A1 grammar guide) the (A1 grammar guide) no article (A1 grammar guide) Questions with be (A1 grammar guide) Make it a question (A1 grammar guide) A or An (A1 grammar guide) Am, Is, Are (A1 grammar guide) Am not, Isn't, Aren't (A1 grammar guide) Am I? Is he? Are you? (A1 grammar guide) Past: didn't and Did (A1 grammar guide) How often ...? (A1 grammar guide) Adverbs of Frequency: Always, Usually, Sometimes, Never (A1 grammar guide) some or any (A1 grammar guide) Things you can count, things you can't (A1 grammar guide) How much or How many? (A1 grammar guide) Big red, not red big (A1 grammar guide) In the Kitchen (A1 vocabulary guide) Past Time Words: Yesterday, Last Week, Ago (A1 vocabulary guide) What time is it? (A1 vocabulary guide) Greetings and names (A1 vocabulary guide) Places in Town (A1 vocabulary guide) Directions: Finding Your Way (A1 vocabulary guide) Colors (A1 vocabulary guide) Family (A1 vocabulary guide) Animals (A1 vocabulary guide) Body Parts (A1 vocabulary guide) Health (A1 vocabulary guide) Emergency (A1 vocabulary guide) Fruits (A1 vocabulary guide) Vegetables (A1 vocabulary guide) Jobs (A1 vocabulary guide) Work and languages (A1 vocabulary guide) Common Verbs: Come, See, Make, Take, Know, Help (A1 vocabulary guide) Sports (A1 vocabulary guide) Free Time (A1 vocabulary guide) Clothes (A1 vocabulary guide) Common Verbs: Live, Work, Eat, Drink, Buy, Go (A1 vocabulary guide) Prices and money (A1 vocabulary guide) Weather (A1 vocabulary guide) Time Words: Now, Right Now (A1 vocabulary guide) Transportation (A1 vocabulary guide) Future Time Words: Tonight, Next Week (A1 vocabulary guide) Classroom Objects (A1 vocabulary guide) Personal Items (A1 vocabulary guide) Drinks and Snacks (A1 vocabulary guide) Food and Drinks (A1 vocabulary guide) Seasons (A1 vocabulary guide) Dates and ordinals (A1 vocabulary guide) Describing People (A1 vocabulary guide) Daily Routine (A1 vocabulary guide) At Home (A1 vocabulary guide) Feelings (A1 vocabulary guide) Numbers (A1 vocabulary guide) Numbers 11 to 20 (A1 vocabulary guide) Numbers: Tens (A1 vocabulary guide) Countries and Nationalities (A1 vocabulary guide) Thank You, Sorry & Asking for Help (A1 vocabulary guide) Likes and Dislikes (A1 vocabulary guide) Personal Information (A1 vocabulary guide) Alphabet, spelling and zero (A1 vocabulary guide) Opposite Adjectives (A1 vocabulary guide) Days of the Week (A1 vocabulary guide) Day, week, month, year (A1 vocabulary guide) Comparatives: Bigger, Faster, More Careful (A2 grammar guide) Superlatives: The Cheapest, the Best (A2 grammar guide) Too and Enough: Too Small, Big Enough (A2 grammar guide) Irregular Past Verbs: Went, Said, Told (A2 grammar guide) Irregular Past Verbs: Paid, Wore, Knew (A2 grammar guide) Past Participles: Gone, Seen, Done (A2 grammar guide) Passive Voice (Present): It Is Made Here (A2 grammar guide) Passive Voice (Past): It Was Built Long Ago (A2 grammar guide) Possessive Pronouns: Mine, Yours, Whose? (A2 grammar guide) Reflexive Pronouns: Myself, Yourself (A2 grammar guide) Used To (A2 grammar guide) As … As Comparisons: As Big As, Not As Big As (A2 grammar guide) Prepositions of Movement: Across, Through, Into (A2 grammar guide) How Long Does It Take? (A2 grammar guide) Can I …? Could You …? (A2 grammar guide) Something, Anything, Nothing (A2 grammar guide) Prepositions of Time: Until, By, During (A2 grammar guide) Should for Advice: You Should …, Why Don't You …? (A2 grammar guide) Much, Many, a Few, a Little (A2 grammar guide) Relative Clauses: The Person Who …, the Place Where … (A2 grammar guide) Subject and Object Questions: Who Called? Who Did You Call? (A2 grammar guide) So Do I, Neither Do I: Me Too, Me Neither (A2 grammar guide) Will or Going To? (A2 grammar guide) Present Perfect: Have You Ever …? (A2 grammar guide) Present Perfect vs Past Simple: I Saw It, I've Seen It (A2 grammar guide) For & Since (A2 grammar guide) Just, Already, Yet (A2 grammar guide) Must vs Have To: Must, Can't, Not Allowed To (A2 grammar guide) Linking Words: So and Although (A2 grammar guide) Might, May (A2 grammar guide) Had To, Didn't Have To (A2 grammar guide) Have To, Don't Have To (A2 grammar guide) Past Continuous: What Were You Doing? (A2 grammar guide) First Conditional: If It Rains, … (A2 grammar guide) Future Time Clauses: When I Get Home, … (A2 grammar guide) Reported Speech: Passing a Message On (A2 grammar guide) Intensifiers: Very, Pretty, a Little (A2 grammar guide) -ed and -ing Adjectives: Bored or Boring? (A2 grammar guide) always, carefully, well (A2 grammar guide) Gerund or Infinitive: To Go or Going? (A2 grammar guide) Present Continuous for Future: Plans & Schedules (A2 grammar guide) Separable Phrasal Verbs: Turn It On, Turn It Off (A2 grammar guide) Invitations (A2 vocabulary guide) Phone Calls (A2 vocabulary guide) At the Airport (A2 vocabulary guide) At the Doctor: Clinics & Prescriptions (A2 vocabulary guide) Entertainment and Media: Movies, Shows & News (A2 vocabulary guide) Technology and Internet: Phones & Apps (A2 vocabulary guide) Money and Banking: Opening an Account (A2 vocabulary guide) Bills & Paying (A2 vocabulary guide) Saving & Spending (A2 vocabulary guide) At a Restaurant (A2 vocabulary guide) At the Table (A2 vocabulary guide) Hobbies and Free Time (A2 vocabulary guide) Body Parts: Wrist, Ankle, Knee, Chest (A2 vocabulary guide) Health and Illness: Symptoms & Injuries (A2 vocabulary guide) Plans & Choices (A2 vocabulary guide) Cooking Verbs: Chop, Fry, Boil, Bake (A2 vocabulary guide) Jobs Vocabulary: Dentist, Mechanic, Cashier (A2 vocabulary guide) Nature Words: Lakes, Mountains, Trails (A2 vocabulary guide) Weather & Trash Day (A2 vocabulary guide) Looking for Work (A2 vocabulary guide) At Work (A2 vocabulary guide) Work Vocabulary: Sick Days, Overtime & Pay (A2 vocabulary guide) Food Measurements: A Dozen, A Pound, A Gallon (A2 vocabulary guide) House and Home: Around the Apartment (A2 vocabulary guide) Materials (A2 vocabulary guide) Life Events (A2 vocabulary guide) The Town Back Then (A2 vocabulary guide) How the Town Was Made (A2 vocabulary guide) Personality and Character Adjectives (A2 vocabulary guide) Describing People & Places (A2 vocabulary guide) Games & Scores (A2 vocabulary guide) Asking for Directions: How Do I Get To …? (A2 vocabulary guide) Taking the Bus & Train (A2 vocabulary guide) Driving & Parking (A2 vocabulary guide) Forms & Mail (A2 vocabulary guide) Services & the Library (A2 vocabulary guide) Reporting a Problem (A2 vocabulary guide) Asking for Clarification: Sorry, I Didn't Catch That (A2 vocabulary guide) Agreeing and Disagreeing: Saying What You Think (A2 vocabulary guide) Apologizing and Complaining (A2 vocabulary guide) Accidents Vocabulary: Drop, Spill, Trip Over (A2 vocabulary guide) Your Child at School (A2 vocabulary guide) Feelings Vocabulary: Nervous, Upset, Lonely (A2 vocabulary guide) Common Verbs: Give, Find, Tell and More (A2 vocabulary guide) Everyday Phrasal Verbs: Put On, Turn Off (A2 vocabulary guide) Common Collocations: Make, Do, Take, Have (A2 vocabulary guide) Shopping for Clothes: Clothes & Sizes (A2 vocabulary guide) Travel & Vacations (A2 vocabulary guide) Looking Forward (A2 vocabulary guide) Paying, Returning & Sales (A2 vocabulary guide) Store Hours & Signs (A2 vocabulary guide) Saying Prices (A2 vocabulary guide) Moving & Renting (A2 vocabulary guide) Problems in the Apartment (A2 vocabulary guide) Adjectives for Describing Things: Slow, Fast, Loud (A2 vocabulary guide) have been doing (still going on) (B1 grammar guide) will be doing (in progress later) (B1 grammar guide) will have done (finished before then) (B1 grammar guide) had been doing (going on before then) (B1 grammar guide) be / get used to (it feels normal) (B1 grammar guide) 'd better / 'd rather (B1 grammar guide) have / get something done (B1 grammar guide) is done / was done (the passive) (B1 grammar guide) has been done (already finished) (B1 grammar guide) can be done / must be done (B1 grammar guide) The passive across times (B1 grammar guide) He said he was tired (reporting) (B1 grammar guide) She asked where I lived (reporting questions) (B1 grammar guide) ..., isn't it? (question tags) (B1 grammar guide) Do you know where it is? (polite questions) (B1 grammar guide) must be doing (a guess about now) (B1 grammar guide) If it rains, we'll stay in (B1 grammar guide) If I had known, I would have come (B1 grammar guide) should have / could have done (B1 grammar guide) I wish I knew ... (wishes and regrets) (B1 grammar guide) Real plan, or just imagining? (B1 grammar guide) Always true, or just this time? (B1 grammar guide) must be, might be, can't be (B1 grammar guide) used to and would (past habits) (B1 grammar guide) when, while, as soon as (B1 grammar guide) stopped smoking or stopped to smoke? (B1 grammar guide) Try and Regret: Gerund or Infinitive? (B1 grammar guide) I wish you would ... (complaints) (B1 grammar guide) Telling a story: which past? (B1 grammar guide) had done (the past before the past) (B1 grammar guide) Which one do you mean? (B1 grammar guide) enjoy doing, want to do (B1 grammar guide) advised me to, offered to, suggested that (B1 grammar guide) Asking for things: who you're talking to (B1 vocabulary guide) Relationships and social life (B1 vocabulary guide) Environment and nature (B1 vocabulary guide) Phrasal verbs for work (B1 vocabulary guide) Speculating and guessing (B1 vocabulary guide) Word formation: prefixes (B1 vocabulary guide) Strong collocations (B1 vocabulary guide) Idioms and fixed expressions (B1 vocabulary guide) Adverb + adjective collocations (B1 vocabulary guide) Phrasal verbs for problems (B1 vocabulary guide) Education and learning (B1 vocabulary guide) Crime and law vocabulary (B1 vocabulary guide) Personal development and goals (B1 vocabulary guide) Expressing preferences (B1 vocabulary guide) Entertainment vocabulary (B1 vocabulary guide) Comparing and contrasting (B1 vocabulary guide) Phrasal verbs for communication (B1 vocabulary guide) Media and news vocabulary (B1 vocabulary guide) Science and innovation vocabulary (B1 vocabulary guide) Money and economy (B1 vocabulary guide) Work and career vocabulary (B1 vocabulary guide) Persuading and convincing (B1 vocabulary guide) Phrasal verbs for relationships (B1 vocabulary guide) Phrasal verbs for caring and coping (B1 vocabulary guide) Interrupting politely (B1 vocabulary guide) Giving reasons and justifications (B1 vocabulary guide) Summarizing and rephrasing: closing and restating phrases (B1 vocabulary guide) Expressing certainty and uncertainty (B1 vocabulary guide) Changing the subject (B1 vocabulary guide) Word formation - noun suffixes (B1 vocabulary guide) Word formation - adjectives and adverbs (B1 vocabulary guide) Turning verbs and adjectives into nouns (B2 grammar guide) will have been doing (for how long, by then) (B2 grammar guide) be to, be about to, be due to (B2 grammar guide) being told, being asked (the -ing of a passive) (B2 grammar guide) dare: a few fixed ways to use it (B2 grammar guide) have / get something done, get someone to do it (B2 grammar guide) Advanced passives: is being done, had been done (B2 grammar guide) Walking home, ... (shorter clauses) (B2 grammar guide) ..., most of whom ... (formal relative clauses) (B2 grammar guide) Never have I seen ... (inversion for emphasis) (B2 grammar guide) It was ... that ... (clefts for emphasis) (B2 grammar guide) This problem, I can solve (fronting) (B2 grammar guide) I think so. He does. (saying less) (B2 grammar guide) Were I you, ... / Had I known, ... (formal if) (B2 grammar guide) must have been doing (guessing about the past) (B2 grammar guide) however, therefore, furthermore (linking ideas) (B2 grammar guide) Where adverbs go: only, hardly, quite (B2 grammar guide) A past choice, a result you feel now (B2 grammar guide) Softening a claim (careful wording) (B2 grammar guide) Hypothesizing and theorizing (B2 vocabulary guide) Academic and formal language (B2 vocabulary guide) Formal and informal register (B2 vocabulary guide) Formal and idiomatic expressions (B2 vocabulary guide) Academic discourse markers (B2 vocabulary guide) Latin expressions in formal English (B2 vocabulary guide) Verb and noun collocations (B2 vocabulary guide) Adjective and noun collocations (B2 vocabulary guide) Adverb and Adjective Collocations (B2 vocabulary guide) Verb and adverb collocations (B2 vocabulary guide) Philosophy and ethics vocabulary (B2 vocabulary guide) Politics and governance (B2 vocabulary guide) Economics and finance vocabulary (B2 vocabulary guide) Psychology vocabulary (B2 vocabulary guide) Science and research vocabulary (B2 vocabulary guide) Technology and innovation (B2 vocabulary guide) Medicine and health vocabulary (B2 vocabulary guide) Common Idioms (B2 vocabulary guide) Time and patience idioms (B2 vocabulary guide) Metaphorical idioms (B2 vocabulary guide) Binomial expressions (B2 vocabulary guide) Three-part phrasal verbs (B2 vocabulary guide) Formal Alternatives to Phrasal Verbs (B2 vocabulary guide) Advanced phrasal verbs (B2 vocabulary guide) Complex Prefixes (B2 vocabulary guide) Compound adjectives: impact, effect and time (B2 vocabulary guide) Compound adjectives: people and workplaces (B2 vocabulary guide) Compound adjectives: reviews and judgments (B2 vocabulary guide) Complex suffixes (B2 vocabulary guide) Analyzing and evaluating (B2 vocabulary guide) Presenting and supporting arguments (B2 vocabulary guide) Persuasive language (B2 vocabulary guide) Concessive and contrastive linkers (B2 vocabulary guide) Paragraph cohesion (B2 vocabulary guide) Academic reporting verbs (B2 vocabulary guide) The harder you work, the more you achieve (C1 grammar guide) But for your help, I would be lost (C1 grammar guide) So good that … / Such a success that … (and the emphatic "So great was …") (C1 grammar guide) She was going to accept, but ... (C1 grammar guide) Was Due To / Was To: Past Arrangements (C1 grammar guide) Much as I'd like to ... / However hard you try ... (C1 grammar guide) The board insisted that she be present (C1 grammar guide) She admitted having made a mistake (C1 grammar guide) Formal prepositional phrases: in the event of / on the basis of / with a view to (C1 grammar guide) Albeit ... / Notwithstanding ... / Lest ... (C1 grammar guide) The policy introduced last year (saying more in fewer words) (C1 grammar guide) So impressive was the performance that ... (C1 grammar guide) No sooner had I arrived than ... — dramatic time inversions (C1 grammar guide) Innovation is what will decide it (C1 grammar guide) Whatever you decide, I'll support you (C1 grammar guide) Mei ordered coffee, and Lars tea (C1 grammar guide) It is said that ... / She is said to ... (C1 grammar guide) She suggested that he apply / He denied having seen it (C1 grammar guide) The analysis of the data (packing an action into a subject) (C1 grammar guide) Knowing the answer, she raised her hand (C1 grammar guide) Participle Clauses: Weather Permitting, … (C1 grammar guide) It has been shown that ... / What matters is ... (C1 grammar guide) Cleft or Inversion? It Was the Team That … (C1 grammar guide) Mixed Conditionals: Past and Present in One Sentence (C1 grammar guide) needn't have done vs didn't need to do (C1 grammar guide) Diplomatic and negotiation language (C1 vocabulary guide) Advanced verb and noun collocations (C1 vocabulary guide) Advanced adjective and noun collocations (C1 vocabulary guide) Academic discourse markers (C1 vocabulary guide) Latin expressions in academic and legal English (C1 vocabulary guide) Formal single-word verbs (C1 vocabulary guide) Three-part phrasal verbs (C1 vocabulary guide) Advanced idioms and metaphors (C1 vocabulary guide) Subtle differences in meaning (C1 vocabulary guide) Legal and formal binomials (C1 vocabulary guide) Abstract and conceptual language (C1 vocabulary guide) Functional language for academic discussion (C1 vocabulary guide) Evaluative language: praise and criticism (C1 vocabulary guide) Collocations with prepositions (C1 vocabulary guide) Nouns and formal phrases with prepositions (C1 vocabulary guide) Themes and topics: politics and economics (C1 vocabulary guide) Themes and topics: society and philosophy (C1 vocabulary guide) Academic Word List core (C1 vocabulary guide) Advanced word formation (C1 vocabulary guide) Formal register transformations (C1 vocabulary guide) Business and legal collocations (C1 vocabulary guide) Professional euphemism (C1 vocabulary guide) Text cohesion devices (C1 vocabulary guide)